Group to work on behalf of employees

The city recently made the move to the state’s health benefits plan, and now the council has selected Brown and Brown Benefit Advisors to advocate on behalf of employees.

Brown and Brown will aid the city’s employees with “getting bills paid, claims that are denied, et cetera,” city manager Terence Reidy said at the May 15 council meeting.

The consultants will work with city payroll manager Mary Kay Callahan, Reidy said. Employees with issues may contact Callahan, and Callahan can contact Brown and Brown, which will “go out and do the battling on behalf of the employee,” Reidy said.

The city moved from its Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield benefits plan to a state plan this year, and “there is a lot of followup work that needs to be done with the employees” as a result of that switch, Reidy said.

At $4,000 per month, Brown and Brown was not the lowest bidder, Reidy said. Another bidder came in at $2,500 per month. But Brown and Brown’s contract includes pursuing Medicare Part D reimbursement, which could enable the city to recoup about $117,000, Reidy said, effectively cancelling out Brown and Brown’s $48,000 cost for the year.

The city council voted unanimously to name Brown and Brown Benefit Advisors as consultants for the next year.